Friends, Unexpectedly
by heylibertygirlfraand
Summary: Drianca and Eclare go on a double date.


_Bee, you free tonight? Come down to the Ravine, we're all here. It's been awhile. – RonRon._

Bianca stared at the message on the screen, biting her lip as she contemplated what to do. She had promised Drew they would go on a double date with Eli and Clare tonight, but it had been a really long time since she had hung out with her old crew. Then again, she had a whole new life now thanks to Drew. The old Bianca was dead and gone and she wasn't sure she fit in with that crowd anymore. She wasn't sure she fit in anywhere.

She took a deep breath, made a decision and slowly typed RonRon a reply:

_Sounds good, I'll be there in an hour._

Bianca sighed as she locked her phone, placed it on the end of the bed and rolled over to face the loving eyes of her boyfriend, Drew Torres. Drew smiled and leaned in to kiss her. Their lips almost touched but before they could, Bianca pulled back, earning a confused look from Drew. She was never one to refuse a kiss.

"Is something wrong, do I smell bad?" Drew laughed lightly but it was easy to see the concern immediately entering his eyes.

Bianca rolled onto her back and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, "It's nothing, really. I just might have to bail on the double date tonight. I hope you don't mind," she said confidently, although Drew could tell she wasn't telling him everything.

"And what exactly is so important you can't miss it? I was really looking forward to us spending time with Eli and Clare. Please Bianca, do I have to bring out the puppy dog eyes.. We can do this the easy way or the hard way," Drew chuckled to himself, thinking he had just cracked the funniest joke ever as Bianca rolled her eyes and sat up, "RonRon texted me and told me about some kids chilling at the Ravine tonight, I haven't been there in a long time and maybe they'd be cool with us going there more often if I made an appearance," Bianca told him calmly, avoiding eye contact.

He sighed impatiently and reached into his pocket, "Fine, we'll go. I'll text Eli and tell him about the location change, I'm sure he and Clare won't mind."

Bianca whirled her head around to make sure she had heard him correctly, "Are you serious? Eli won't be a problem but Saint Clare at the Ravine? Now that is never going to happen. I think I should just go alone anyways, can't we reschedule?"

Drew was starting to get a little upset, "No, we can't reschedule. The school year just started and soon our teachers will be piling on homework. My mom will be on red alert, especially since I'm a senior. The date has to be tonight. It's now or never Bianca."

Bianca weighed her options and thought it was maybe better to kill two birds with one stone: make an appearance at the Ravine and get this stupid double date over with. Just because Drew and Eli had suddenly become pretty tight over the summer didn't mean she was going to magically become friends with Clare.

"Fine, we'll all go to the Ravine together. Just tell Edwards not to come crying to me when someone offers her a smoke. Make sure they hurry though, I told RonRon I'd be there in an hour."

Drew fist pumped, gave his girlfriend a little peck and quickly texted Eli. He couldn't wait for tonight.

* * *

><p>The Goldsworthy house was lively and you could feel the positive energy circling around the atmosphere. CeCe was trying to teach Bullfrog how to bake brownies but he ended up eating most of the raw batter, earning laughs all around from his wife, son, and Clare. Eli had invited Clare over for dinner before they went to a movie with Drew and Bianca. They were having so much fun that Clare almost didn't want to go to the movie anymore. She and Bianca weren't even acquaintances, but Eli and Drew had been planning this for weeks so she was happy to support their little "bromance" as Alli had called it when Clare told her about their plans.<p>

Clare was licking some brownie batter off of her fingers when she heard Eli's phone ring, alerting them that he had received a text message. He pulled his cell out of his pocket and read the message on the screen.

His eyes squinted and he blinked a few times before saying, "Change of plans Clare, looks like the movie's earlier. We need to leave now. Bye mom, bye Dad," Eli spoke so quickly the three people around him weren't too sure what was even going on. Clare stuttered out a good-bye to CeCe and Bullfrog as Eli practically pushed her out the front door.

"Um, care to explain what the rush is for? I'm sure Drew and Bianca can save us some seats or someth-"

"Are you up for an urban adventure?" Eli's eyes were wary as he cut her off.

"Now? I thought we had plans, weren't you looking forward to this?"

"I was, I mean.. I am. Drew said in his text that we're going to um, the Ravine instead."

"The Ravine? Seriously Eli? I'm not sure that's what I'd call a good date location."

"I know, you're right and I'm so sorry but Drew said that Bianca's going with or without us and he worries about her. Please Clare? Drew needs us there for moral support," something in his eyes seemed desperate, like he was a little child asking his mom for permission to walk alone to the corner store.

Clare let out an exasperated sigh but smiled, "I still don't understand how you and Drew became such good friends. You guys are nothing alike!"

"Watch it Edwards, I could say the same thing about you and I," he winked at her before continuing, "After Adam got shot, Drew was always around whenever I went to visit. We ended up spending a lot of time together. I got to know him and he's actually a really cool guy. Pretty good at video games too. After all he went through last year with the gang stuff, he's doing quite well. I sort of look up to him," Eli blushed at this confession.

Clare saw the admiration in Eli's eyes as he spoke about Drew. She knew that Eli's mind was made up; Drew was going to be his friend whether she liked it or not.

"Alright, you know I can't say no to you. An urban adventure with Drew and Bianca it is. You're lucky I love you," Clare laughed and grabbed Eli's hand, interlacing her fingers with his.

"Well that's convenient, I happen to love you as well. To the Ravine m'lady?"

She nodded as Eli kissed her temple and they began walking to their destination.

* * *

><p>Once they arrived at the Ravine, Drew called over to Eli and the boys fist bumped and shared a bro hug. Clare awkwardly nodded at Bianca who rolled her eyes in a semi greeting. Bianca whispered something in Drew's ear, kissed him on the cheek and skipped away to sit with a bunch of unfamiliar people.<p>

Clare's gaze followed the older girl, and she was surprised to see Bianca shake her head, refusing a joint that some guy was holding out in her direction. Clare was sure she had heard rumours about Bianca blazing before. Then again you can't believe everything you hear. Clare turned her attention onto the conversation Drew and Eli were having, apparently some awesome new video game was coming out soon and they couldn't wait to play against each other.

When she looked back at the group of people Bianca was sitting with, the curly haired girl was nowhere to be found.

Clare shrugged to herself and followed Drew and Eli to a nearby creek, away from the partying teenagers.

Eli and Drew seemed to be having way too much fun playing some mindless game that involved throwing rocks across the creek to see who could throw it the farthest. Clare got bored of watching this juvenile activity and decided to go find Bianca, seeing as it had been an hour since Clare had last noticed her around. Maybe they could get to know each other because from the looks of it, Drew and Eli would definitely want to go on another double date in the near future.

Clare walked around the Ravine slowly as she looked for Bianca, avoiding stepping on some passed out drunks and not making eye contact with the kids who were blazing a few feet away. She had never been exposed to this kind of stuff before. It really opened her eyes to what was going on around her.

After five minutes of searching for Bianca, Clare almost gave up until she heard a muffled sob.

Clare wasn't sure who it was but she decided to investigate the source of the sobbing, someone could be hurt.

She certainly didn't expect to find the older girl huddled behind an old car with tears rolling down her cheeks.

Clare quickly ran over to sit down next to Bianca and hesitantly touched her shoulder, "Hey, um, are you okay?"

Bianca jerked away from Clare's touch and scowled, "What do you care Edwards? You've never said more than- oh wait scratch that. You've never said _anything _to me before. Why should I tell you what's wrong? Like you would even care.."

"Because you need to get something off your chest. Trust me, I know we're not exactly close like our boyfriends are, but I can be a pretty good listener if you want to talk. Everyone needs someone to turn to sometimes. Even you, Bianca."

Bianca looked at Clare and exhaled shakily, "I try so hard to fit in everywhere. At school, home, when I'm with Drew, here. No matter where I go I always feel out of place. And if it does feel right, if I'm happy for even a minute, it's like the world says, "Hey look Bianca's happy. That just won't do, let's turn her world upside down again, she's used to it." I'm sick and tired of trying so hard Clare. When can I just be who I want to be? I hate feeling like this," her voice cracked and she let out a sob.

Clare couldn't believe what she had just heard. Bianca DeSousa, resident bad girl at Degrassi, the fiercest girl Clare had ever come across was basically pouring her heart out to anyone who would listen. Clare felt terrible for her. Bianca normally came off as a strong, confident girl who was tough and knew what she was doing but anyone could see how weak and broken she was right now. She was used to bottling things up and keeping to herself. She hurt others around her as a defence mechanism. If she was hurting other people, they couldn't hurt her.

"Bianca, you don't have to try to do anything. As cheesy as it sounds, be you, whoever that is. If you want to become a famous dancer, do that. If you want to grow up to be a stay at home mom, hey why not? You're the only one who can decide what you want in life. Even though we may not be friends or similar in any way, I'll admit I understand what you're going through. It's tough, and life can be a bitch, but we both know you're tougher than that. Fight it," Bianca looked up at the sound of Clare Edwards cursing. That was not a sight you saw every day and she couldn't help but let out a giggle.

"Do you want to get out of here? Let's see if we can tear our boyfriends apart from each other for a minute to ask them if they want to do something else. It's too late for the movies, got any ideas?"

"Um, how about some good old fashioned bowling? I haven't been in ages," Bianca blushed timidly at her suggestion as Clare's eyes lit up and she agreed that bowling was a perfect idea.

* * *

><p>"YEAH BUDDY! TURKEY! IN YOUR FACE GOLDSWORTHY," shouted Drew as he scored his third strike in a row.<p>

Clare had comforted Bianca until she was able to regain her composure. They found their way back to the boys and proposed the idea of bowling. It had been half an hour since then and they were all have a blast.

Drew was currently winning, with Clare in second, Bianca in third and Eli bringing up the rear in last place.

"Shut up Torres, I'm just going easy on you is all. You wait and see, Elijah Goldsworthy is about to BRING IT!"

Drew shoved Eli's shoulder and the four teens laughed.

This was Clare's idea of a perfect double date.

The boys kept goofing off, it was Eli's turn to bowl and Drew was trying to break his concentration by standing in front of him and waving his arms around like a crazy person. Clare playfully rolled her eyes and laughed at their immaturity. When Eli and Drew were together they acted like two five year olds on Christmas morning.

Bianca got up and switched seats to sit next to Clare. An awkward silence surrounded them, even though the bass of the popular pop song playing in the bowling alley pumped through their bodies. They hadn't spoken about what had happened between them at the Ravine. Bianca was thankful for the fact that Clare hadn't said anything to Drew about her nervous breakdown.

Bianca bit her lip as she turned her head towards Clare, "I'm glad we did this tonight. I'm having a really good time. And Clare? Thanks for not saying anything to Drew, I appreciate it," she bowed her head and blushed.

It felt like after seeing Bianca in such a vulnerable and raw state, the two girls now had an understanding between them. They could say hello to each other in the hallway at school, or maybe send a few texts here and there. The animosity was over. The moment they shared at the Ravine had turned their relationship around and Clare knew it was for the better.

Clare gave Bianca a warm smile and reached over to give the other girl's hand a squeeze, "Of course Bee, what are friends for?"


End file.
